Well, you do have to realize that it really IS an old-fashioned musical comedy. It's a wonderful show and I love it a lot, but it's nothing groundbreaking in terms of musical theatre as a genre. Just a good old solid tuneful musical comedy, quite unapologetically, with a great score and great book. Not that there's anything wrong with that. ;-)
Also, for all of us, including me, who gasped at the remarks he made on the Tonys when La Cage won - he later explained (and I believe him) that it wasn't a dig at Sunday In The Park, it was more of a surprised affirmation that his kind of score - the good old fashioned musical comedy score - still had an audience, even as the feel of Broadway scores really was changing. (I'm not quoting him, but that's what I feel is the gist of his comments on it.)
Not all of Herman's shows have been successful, but his strength, even in his lesser known shows, has always been the traditional showtune, which we can easily experience today with the whiff of a bygone era. But I'm also glad that Dolly didn't say "so long" so long ago - it is a deserved classic. |
